Build a bamboo trellis
Bamboo is a wonderfully versatile building material. It’s lightweight, strong, and flexible, and it looks at home in most gardening schemes.
The number of vines on my garden wish list will soon outnumber the structures on which I can grow them. Is that a bad thing, you ask? It would be if I had to rely on the supports for sale at local nurseries and home stores. What I found on a recent shopping trip was either overpriced, lacking in character, or made with flimsy materials. That’s what motivated me to make my own trellises out of bamboo.
You will need:
Several canes of bamboo in different diameters
Lashing cord
Hand saw or
Ruler or tape measure
Pencil
Here's how:
1. Imagine your trellis where it will eventually be placed, taking into account the size and shape of the area where it will be situated. Draw the design of your trellis on paper. Deciding on as many measurements as possible in advance will help you to stay on track during the building process.
2. Use a hand saw or secateurs to cut the sky-facing ends of your vertical canes just above a node, which is solid. This will keep water from collecting in the open ends, which would encourage rot. Then cut the trimmed canes to size from the bottom. Cut the horizontal canes to size as well.
3. On a flat surface, arrange the canes into the shape of your design, using a ruler to ensure that the canes are spaced evenly. Mark the intersecting points of the crossing canes with a pencil, since the unbound canes will shift around a bit as you start to connect them with lashing cord.
4. Using the lashing method below, lash the canes together as tightly as possible.
Try this lashing technique
Lashing is the most important part of making bamboo trellises, since it’s what holds them together. Here’s a technique I use that is both strong and attractive. Start with a piece of cord that’s 4 to 5 feet long and trim the excess when you’re done.
fine gardening